On the time of this writing, we’re days away from the 2024 presidential election right here in the USA. And, for those who’re like me, you’re most likely exhausted. However though we’re all drained and need all of it to go away, I’ve felt compelled to supply a phrase—and presumably a problem—to us all.
However earlier than I get there, take into account that I’m an immigrant. As I write this, I’m ineligible to vote on this election as a result of the citizenship course of takes time. I’m additionally from a rustic the place politics begins left of middle and goes farther left from there. And I point out this as a result of each details have an effect on the best way I view political engagement.
I can’t vote, so I dwell with the results of different folks’s selections. I’m additionally accustomed to my views not being mirrored within the platforms or selections of candidates for political events. And I’ve little endurance for the often rehashed and simplistic soundbites I see, hear, and browse virtually each day which can be too typically used as a way to bind folks’s consciences.
Among the many points that matter to me, I care about spiritual freedom for all folks. I’m holistically pro-life and consider folks not solely have the correct to exist however ought to have each alternative to flourish, which incorporates upholding the goodness of organic actuality. I’m for fiscal duty and restricted authorities. On these points, I’m most likely extra conservative than many operating for workplace beneath the time period, definitely in its historic sense.1
However what do I care about probably the most when contemplating any type of chief? His or her character.
What we lose once we cease caring about character
Many have identified that, in an election, we’re not voting for a pastor or an elder in a church. The roles are totally different. And I agree. They’re essentially totally different. I don’t desire a pastor as a president any greater than I might desire a pastor as the pinnacle of a publishing group.
However I do need somebody of character—an individual who takes duty for his or her personal failures. Who speaks of each particular person with dignity and respect. An individual who cares about justice—about doing what’s proper and never what’s proper for them. An individual who isn’t casually merciless and caustic.2 As a result of character issues, and good leaders are essentially folks of fine character, irrespective of if they’re within the market, authorities, or the church.
And I care a lot about a frontrunner’s character as a result of leaders form tradition. Their conduct units the bar for his or her followers’ conduct. And within the context of an election, the character folks reward with their votes displays what they turn into over time. That is what we’ve seen on show over the past a number of years—not that it didn’t exist earlier than, however many individuals discovered they’d permission to say the quiet components out loud, because it had been.
I’ve witnessed and skilled the informal cruelty directed at immigrants. So have my youngsters. Individuals in my neighborhood proudly adorn their automobiles with euphemisms to masks slurs. I often drive previous a farm with an indication proudly telling a candidate to **** herself, whereas one other signal on the identical property provides a gospel message.
None of that is proper. Nevertheless it’s acceptable as a result of we’ve allowed it to be by the alternatives we’ve made.
Beware those that would bind your conscience
And I get it—there’s a rigidity that folks really feel on the subject of voting. All of us wrestle with stability priorities. One social gathering or candidate might need a set of insurance policies which can be completely reprehensible to you, whereas the opponent might need a distinct set of equally reprehensible insurance policies.3 We’re caught between two evils, and it stinks.
However lest you suppose I’m telling you the way it is best to vote, suppose once more. If I had been to let you know vote, I might be liable to binding your conscience, and I can’t try this. Nobody can. A social media influencer making an attempt to persuade you that it’s mistaken to not vote can’t. A pastor who distorts Matthew 5:13 to let you know to vote can’t both. Nor can a seminary president who warned towards voting “wrongly.” To take action is emphatically a sin. It’s to subvert the gospel by inserting a burden Christ doesn’t (Galatians 5:1). And Jesus had some fairly sturdy phrases for many who trigger any of his “little ones” to sin and stumble (Luke 17:1-2).
As an alternative, right here’s what I can let you know: Obey your conscience. If, after fastidiously weighing the character of a candidate and the standard of a celebration’s platform, you’ll be able to vote for one over one other with a transparent conscience, achieve this. But when voting for one over the opposite—or voting for both—can be a sin, then don’t sin. And if others attempt to let you know how it is best to vote, rebuke them in love as you’d a good friend (Proverbs 27:6).
Picture by Marek Studzinski on Unsplash
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